Posted By Erinj09 on 05/30/2008 1:58 AM
is that what you fed sam when he/she was a puppy? or if they were adopted, how old were they when you started feeding them canidea?
My family didn't know anything about dog nutrition when we first got Sam. We got him from a not-so-good BYB. She had A LOT of dogs (perhaps around 40!) that were mostly in crates. They weren't in really terrible, filthy conditions or anything you would classify as "puppy millish", but it wasn't a good place either. We got him there because my family really didn't know anything about what to look for in a breeder.
So, we fed him pedigree. We thought is was good stuff at first (it's actually one of the worst brands out there) The reason being because his coat and condition actually IMPROVED after we got him off the stuff the breeder was feeding him. I don't remember what it was, but it must have been some really horrid stuff.
Lesson learned, thanks to this site and the wonderful people on it! We started feeding Sam Canidae a few months ago, shortly after coming here. (took my parents a while to be convinced to buy a -gasp- 'expensive' dog food, but then I told them about the whole 'dead pets in dog food' story) He has been doing great! His coat is a lot healthier, and he has a lot more energy...though he's still quite the couch potatoe. 
But I'm rambling now...honestly, I haven't found anything 'special' in a puppy formula that I couldn't find in an 'adult' formula from or not from the same brand. And I've yet to see a good dog food that has certain 'life stages' other than 'all life stages'.
Here's an example for Iams puppy formula vs. one of their 'adult' formulas:
Iams ProActive Health Puppy Ingredients
Chicken, Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Meal, Chicken Flavor, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Caramel, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract.
Iams ProActive Health Active Maturity
Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Flax Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Caramel, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract.
I highlighted everything that is in both the 'puppy formula' and in that 'adult' formula.
As you can see, almost every ingredient in the puppy formula is also in the adult formula. Only two ingredients in the puppy food differ. It's like they took all the same ingredients and just differed the amounts with some of them.
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